British holiday jet 'avoided missile' two months ago

A Thomson plane reportedly once had to avoid a missile when landing at Sharm el-Sheikh Credit: PA

A British aircraft carrying 189 passengers had a near-miss with a military missile when landing at Sharm el-Sheikh airport just over two months ago, it has emerged.

The incident has come to light as British tourists in the Egyptian resort begin to return home following the grounding of flights amid security fears.

Reports of the incident say the Thomson aircraft had to take evasive action but landed safely. Thomson reported the incident to the Department for Transport.

A UK government spokesperson told ITV News: "We investigated the reported incident at the time and concluded that it was not a targeted attack and was likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time."

A spokesman for Tui, which owns Thomson, added: "The view at the time was that it was probably a flare. As a result there was no cause for concern."